Positives and negatives of early retirement

[traineeinvestor]

A nice post on the advantages and disadvantages of early retirement: http://www.financialsamurai.com/201...rement-feel-like-the-positives-and-negatives/

I like the concluding paragraph:

Retiring early is a blessing because our bodies still allow us to climb the steepest Mayan steps and start the most daunting businesses when we are younger. Hopefully this post gives you some inspiration to get up a little earlier, save more after-tax income, and take calculated risks to retire early as well. The feeling of being able to do whatever you want is priceless. Just know that once you’re retired you may very well want to go back to work!

Well .... maybe not the last sentence .....

 

[Live And Learn]

Cute article. I'll let you know how much I agree or disagree with it in about 2 or 3 years LOL

 

[scrabbler1]

I like how he listed the loss of a lousy commute as his first positive. That was certainly my #1 positive from ERing.

 

[jollystomper]

I don't see the negatives as all that bad. How can vacations no longer be as exciting? I can see the loneliness thing but perhaps it depends on ones personality, or if your work environment is also your social life. And I think getting lazy at this point in life is well deserved.

 

[obgyn65]

Getting ready for another long day. This is exactly the type of article I needed to read. Very inspiring. Thank you for sharing.

Small exception in my case : I will still have cleaners come in once every few weeks when I am FIREd.

A nice post on the advantages and disadvantages of early retirement: http://www.financialsamurai.com/2013/03/19/what-does-early-retirement-feel-like-the-positives-and-negatives/

I like the concluding paragraph:

Well .... maybe not the last sentence .....

 

[Tree-dweller]

Thanks for this. With very few differences, this was spot-on for my retirement experience, one year in. While I have no urge to "start the most daunting business", I have climbed "the steepest Mayan (well, Incan) steps" since retiring. I actually do want to try my hand at golf now, though. When I was a working stiff I was always dismissive of golf as "a good walk spoiled". Now I can try, and use my age as an excuse for my poor score. If it would only stop snowing...

 

[pb4uski]

Interesting article and much of it is consistent with my experience one year in, but some not.

I thought this quote was interesting.

The older we get the more we are willing to trade money for time since we have less of it.

I've been saying this for years. When you are young you have lots of time and are poor so money is a more valuable commodity than time. Later in life, if you work (particularly in a challenging job) and have accumulated some wealth, you have plenty of money but time is a more valuable commodity.

I have found the lazy part especially true because if something doesn't get done today in most cases it can get done tomorrow - which becomes a slippery slope of procrastination. I haven't found the less money part true, thanks to Mr. Market my nestegg is higher today than it was when I retired.

 

[donheff]

It is a pretty good article. Most of what he says rings true for me eight years in. He expresses some unease with laziness/lack of productivity that I didn't feel but then he retired at 35 or so after a relatively short (if kick-ass) career. Most of us sorta ERs retired after 30-40 years of hard work and are quite satisfied that we put our productive time in, thank you. He also has a somewhat less engaging piece on how it feels to be financially independent. But that one ends with three links to commercial products that will help you save -- that pitch makes the whole piece ring false.

Edit: after posting I looked at his home page mast head and realized the three commercial links are prominent there as well. He has built an income stream with adds on his site and there is nothing wrong with that. The mini-paragraphs in his FI piece still ring phony but seem less obnoxious in the context of the overall site.

 

[Dawg52]

One of the biggest fears working people have before retirement is figuring out what they are going to do with all their free time.

I've been retired 6 years and the time has flown by. Kind of scary when you think about it. Of course a lot of my time was spent caring for my Mom and now that she is gone, one could argue that I will just now start experiencing the lifestyle of a true early retiree with no responsibilities. But other than getting over her loss(which won't be easy), I don't think I will have a problem staying busy. I love golf and can play 5 days a week without getting tired of it. I also love taking long walks with the mutt. And over the next few months I will be getting one of my two houses ready to sell. Probably both at some point. And I plan to do some traveling. So I can't imagine being bored going forward.

I used to love golf but at $58 and five hours a round, I’ve kind of lost interest. If I had a close golfing buddy who could play from 11am to 4pm on the weekdays, I’d probably enjoy it more.

Again, not a problem for me. I pay a monthly fee and my average cost per round is just under $20. Still not a cheap hobby, but not too bad. And where I play, it doesn't take 5 hours to play a round of golf. Usually just under 3 hours. Plus there are 8-12 golfers who show up at a set time to play everyday, so no problem getting up a group. I wouldn't enjoy playing by myself everyday.

He does make a lot of good points in the article. But we all have different experiences.

 

[HFWR]

I'm looking forward to enjoying the benefits and facing the challenges outlined in the article.

 

[Midpack]

Good article, thanks. More complete than many online articles. I can identify with many but not all of the positives, negatives, and observations - but then I suspect most of us would agree or take exception to different bullet points. He seems to write it from the perspective of a 65+ year old, where I think there are some differences for early retirees. YMMV

I am sure the last sentence will rub some members the wrong way...

 

[JoeWras]

Finally someone agrees with me about cleaning the house! I got a bit roasted on these forums a few months ago saying I was looking forward to more vacuuming.

He did sound a bit like a whiner regarding vacations. You know, I have all this money and it is such a darn pain to plan for vacations. Come on dude, get over it.

 

[Packman]

Not to worry, Joe - I actually like house cleaning too. And my wife (still working) really appreciates it.

One thing I noted from the blog was the authors apparent ability to have a lot of human interaction. That has been my biggest problem with ER, being almost 2 years into it. I don't find very many people (especially my age) that are around on weekdays to socially interact with. I live in the burbs, which adds to this issue. So far, I find that having to drive 30 miles round-trip to volunteer, or join clubs, etc. it not appealing to me. When my DW retires, I have been planning to move to an active adult community, just for the social activities.

 

[ERhoosier]

Very interesting site with some interesting observations.
Except that his goal is not really ER, but part-time w#rk running his web business.
Not that there's anything wrong with that

 

[Amethyst]

"Come into work earlier and leave a little earlier." he says. "Your stress level will go way down."

In my neck of the woods, this search for tranquillity has resulted in the roads being jammed with angry commuters before 6 a.m.!

Amethyst

 

[heeyy_joe]

Thank you for sharing the link. The article was worth reading.

 

[David1961]

Just know that once you’re retired you may very well want to go back to work!

Maybe, but has not happened to me.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Small exception in my case : I will still have cleaners come in once every few weeks when I am FIREd.

I am with you! DH and I decided that having someone come in and do the mundane cleaning every so often will be well worth it!

 

[Tyro]

Just know that once you’re retired you may very well want to go back to work!

Maybe, but has not happened to me.

+1. I also think there's a big difference between starting a business (OP) and going back to w*rk. YMMV.

Tyro

 

[ERhoosier]

"Come into work earlier and leave a little earlier." he says. "Your stress level will go way down."

In my neck of the woods, this search for tranquillity has resulted in the roads being jammed with angry commuters before 6 a.m.!

Amethyst

+1
Rush "hour" is continuously expanding in most metro areas.

 

[LitGal]

Enjoyable article to read, but hard to relate to the negatives. DH and I enjoy the peace, quiet, freedom after many years of very hard work.

Little chance we will want to go back to paid work: wouldn't want to give up the volunteer work (or hobbies).

 

[Mulligan]

Enjoyable article to read, but hard to relate to the negatives. DH and I enjoy the peace, quiet, freedom after many years of very hard work.

Little chance we will want to go back to paid work: wouldn't want to give up the volunteer work (or hobbies).

I have to agree with you on not relating to the negatives. Although it is all on ones perspective I guess. I told my father I was quitting my PT job here in a few months. Not a minute passed and he was already suggesting new jobs I may enjoy trying. I know he is not senile and he knows I do not need the money. I think work is just ingrained in his self worth as he is 76 and still works one day a week and would full time if his body would let him, despite the fact he does not need the money.

 

[traineeinvestor]

Enjoyable article to read, but hard to relate to the negatives.

Given the no-holds-barred attitude of many on this forum, I was expecting the standard response to be "there are no negatives to early retirement".

I am so looking forward to FIREing ....

 

[Snidely Whiplash]

Wow, this was very timely for me because I have been confronted by some of the same issues the writer referenced in the article:

Vacations aren’t as exciting anymore.
　
Just want to feel useful.

Retiring early is a blessing because our bodies still allow us to ... start the most daunting businesses when we are younger.

I think it has made me really think about some things and come to the realization that I'm probably really not suited to an early retirement lifestyle, at least not the lifestyle that I would consider to be a standard early retirement if there is such a thing.

I "retired" at 38 after cashing out a portfolio of commercial properties. I had intended to buy back in but put it off to do some RV travelling and spend some time with family. I have been recently feeling like I was done travelling for a while (still a retirement goal to RV travel full-time at a more "regular" retirement age) and that I was starting to feel like I didn't have purpose or the feeling of usefulness. I could even use the word bored.

Starting a business has always been a desire of mine and I'm starting to feel like I might just do that now. I would be proud to provide a quality product to customers, it would give me great satisfaction to employ and provide a decent living to employees (appreciative ones. They are out there, right? LOL), and I would very much like to "create" something entrepreneurial.

So it occurred to me early retirement can be anything I want it to be... even if that's just not reporting to a boss but being my own boss and busier than I've ever been at any job. And if I'm happy doing that, that's all that matters. The article and subsequent discussion here gave me a new way of looking at things and that made it well worth the read for me.
.

 

[Live And Learn]

So it occurred to me early retirement can be anything I want it to be... even if that's just not reporting to a boss but being my own boss and busier than I've ever been at any job. And if I'm happy doing that, that's all that matters. .

(emphasis mine)

Bravo - great post and I couldn't agree with you more. I have finally officially added my name to the Class of 2013, but I'm not sure this will mean I never work again. FI means we have the choice - and having a choice is always a great thing ! One of the things I will be doing in retirement is volunteering but I can see myself accepting a part time position with the place if the offer is made since by defintion it will be at a place that I feel has a meaningful purpose.

Its up to us and we have the choice !